Social Media Workshop: The Imaginary Friends Who Live in Your Typewriter

By Sonia Simone

"Imaginary friends who live in my typewriter" is my friend Gavin's term for people he knows from online. I met Gavin on The WELL and he's a classic example of the friends I've made in online communities--smart, accomplished, and interesting.

The WELL has a long tradition of supplementing online community with offline get-togethers. That might be why it's known for the amazing depth of connections that were made there.

Yes, there were exceptions, but for the most part, people who were delightful online like Mr. Jalopy and Howard Rheingold were also delightful offline. Each realm showed you stuff you wouldn't have seen from the other. Online community was a way to get to know someone in a different way. It didn't replace face-to-face relationship, it deepened it. (keep reading »)

Comments

[James Hipkin]

The objective might be simple, the strategy elegant but the execution will always be complicated. Beware the complication.

Great post, as always. Really emphasizes the importance of considering consequences. Something I have been drumming into my teens.

[Janice C Cartier]

...Unintended consequences too, huh James?

I like the Inverted matrix idea, considering things from both ends.

I cannot remember where this comes from but I once read that if you pick up a stick you get both ends of it...you know ugly and beautiful, chaos and elegance, trolls and supporters...

[Leanne Heller]

It's almost silly to need the reminder, but you’re right - it's easy to forget that the people you're communicating with online are thinking human beings. Especially if you’ve been tuned into WoW general chat in the Barrens for more than 5 minutes. :-)

I’m wondering how to take your ideas into account when building an internet-based community for our business. I’ve got no problem with chaos or autonomous thought, since the people who use your product on a daily basis often have great development ideas to share, and a little chaos keeps things interesting. But, if this was set up, I’d be curious to see what actions might be the result, and what the consequences (if any) might be.

Thanks for the food for thought – I enjoyed your post, and new perspectives are always welcome.

[Karen Swim]

Sonia, such a thought provoking post. You pointed out what appears to be frequently overlooked and that is our inability to control the chaos that is inevitable with groups of people. For those seeking to simply blast a message to "crowds" and influence their desired result, this post points out the flaw in that strategy. People online, offline will never do exactly what you want.